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Board Governance
Nothing to Hide - The Truth About Transparency
By Kent Van Amburg, Executive Director
How much do your members really know about the inner workings of your association? Do they know your annual budget and the level of your reserves, the names and contact information of your leadership or how the governance structure operates? Can they easily access the minutes of your last Board of Directors Meeting or the current version of your Strategic Plan? Do your members understand how to influence the decisions that are made and what programs and services are available to them?
Most importantly - do you want them to know the above? Do you want an organization in which nothing is hidden or secret and the level of trust and ownership is high? This should be every organization’s goal.
In most associations there is a large gap between the information available to the leadership and information provided to the rank and file members. Board members and committee chairs are provided the majority of their information in briefing books for meetings and monthly management reports from the staff. Unfortunately, the average member is left in the dark about developments beyond what they learn during the abbreviated report by the President or CEO at the Annual Convention. As a result, many members feel disconnected from their own associations and have a lack of trust in the decisions being made on their behalf by the elected officers.
The following article written by Paul D. Meyer
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"Non-Profits are Urged to Prepare
for Sarbanes Oxley Legislation"
By Suzanne C. Pine, Executive Vice President
In the wake of public debacles caused by improprieties at Enron and Tyco International in the late 1990's, the U.S. Government passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in an effort to put the public's mind at ease. Non-profit organizations can benefit from the requirements of this Act as well.
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